


Orientation Night

by titania522



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: Daddy!Peeta, Drabble, Modern AU, One-Shot, Prompt writing, everlark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-07
Updated: 2014-08-07
Packaged: 2018-02-12 04:18:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2095512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/titania522/pseuds/titania522
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Requested by Anonymous</p><p>Teacher/single parent AU; Everlark; Single Daddy!Peeta</p><p>Peeta attends orientation with his son to meet his new homeroom teacher, Ms. Everdeen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Orientation Night

 

 

“David, where is your supply list?” called Peeta as he searched through his son’s backpack.

“I dunno,” responded the little blond-haired, blue-eyed boy from behind a giant Lego tower in the living room.

“David…” said Peeta with some menace in his voice as he searched through the pile of papers on the counter in the kitchen.

“I. Don’t. Know!” the little boy said more loudly, his eight year old voice ending in a shrill whine.

Peeta sighed, running his hand through his hair in frustration. It was high time that David learned to keep his school things in order.  This was his thought, at least in theory. However, in practice, the reality was that David was only just becoming comfortable with being independent after the events of the last couple of years.  He had been devastated when his mother had walked out on both Peeta and David.  One minute, she was preparing dinner for the three of them, running out to her SUV with the pretense of picking up milk from the supermarket, the next thing they knew, she had disappeared, leaving only a note to ask them not to call the police, that it was better this way.  It was the last time either of them had seen her again.

David still slept with Peeta, clinging to him in his sleep as nightmares seized him, making manifest at night what his normally upbeat nature would not reveal during the day.  His boy was missing his mother desperately and could not comprehend a world in which his mother would not want to be with him. It broke Peeta’s heart every time and made it very difficult to be severe with his boy.

“Okay, I guess we could pick up another list at orientation tonight.  You dressed, little guy?”

His son gave an exaggerated sigh from behind a second tower as he worked to create an intergalactic city from the giant box of lego pieces.  Peeta knew that sigh meant that his son was engaged in a very important project, from which he did not want to be disturbed.  Having given up on trying to get David to cooperate, he examined his outfit as the boy worked, making sure his clothes were clean and his socks matched.  Peeta never ceased to be amazed by the uncanny resemblance the boy shared with him.  David had the same deep blue eyes as Peeta and the shock of curly, blond hair.  The only thing he could recognize of his mother was the cleft in David’s chin.  As his friend, Finnick, liked to say, there was no way he could deny David was his son.

“David, I’m going to the door and I’m leaving you in one minute if you don’t get your shoes on.  We’re going to be late,” Peeta groused.

“Are my friends going to be there?” he said as he landed his X-Wing Fighter on the roof of one of the towers.

“Of course!  All the parents are invited to visit the homeroom classes so I’m sure you will see your friends.”  This argument was persuasive enough to make David get up and put on his own glow-in-the-dark Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sneakers.

“You get to meet your new homeroom teacher, too.” Peeta continued as he grabbed the car keys from the counter and shut the door behind them.  “Ms. Everdeen, right?  She wasn’t there last year, was she?”  he continued as he helped David into his booster seat.

“Uh-uh.  Carson’s mom met her at Walmart when they were shopping and he said she was old!” giggled the little boy as Peeta snapped his belts into place.

“Really?” said Peeta. They were soon on their way to the school as his son continued to share his version of gossip with this father.

“Yeah, she’s, like 30 years old!  She farts dust!” Carson became close to hysterical and though Peeta didn’t want to encourage him, he couldn’t help but smile at the way his son found such great pleasure in flatulence.

“Well, we’ll be there in no time and see just how old Ms. Everdeen really is.” Peeta quipped, eliciting another round of giggles from David.

XXXXX

David’s school was a small neighborhood elementary school in east Panem, Normally, he and Peeta walked to school but the weather report promised rain in the evening and Peeta did not want to be caught in a storm on the way home.  They arrived in the main office where they were redirected to the Cafetorium or the cafeteria which doubled as an auditorium, where a brief presentation would be taking place.  Peeta took his place next to his friend Finnick and his wife Annie while David proceeded to try to climb under the chairs with Tristen, their son.   

“David!  Chairs are to sit in,” Peeta said helplessly as he and Tristen crawled their way towards Carson in the next row.

“Kid keeps you in shape, eh, mate?” said Finnick. “That little trio of hooligans are all in the same homeroom. I wish that new teacher good luck.”

Annie laughed.  “Oh, you’d be surprised!  They act better when they aren’t around their parents.  Anyway, I met Ms. Everdeen. She seems like the type who can handle them.”

Peeta was about to respond when he looked up at a table covered in pamphlets and captured the glance of the most amazing grey eyes he’d ever seen, completely fixed on him as he spoke. However, the moment he made eye contact, her eyes flitted away and she continued to fuss with the materials on the table, turning her back to him.  Peeta felt the heat rush to his ears and was sure they were the color of ripe tomatoes. Her skin was a clear olive-tone and her dark brown hair was fixed in a neat braid that fell over her left shoulder.  She was small, maybe 5’2.” She had an athletic build and her curves were perfect for her size.  She stretched across the table to reach for a pen and he could not help admire the curve of her hips and thighs that the black slacks only accentuated.

Peeta hadn’t dated anyone since his wife left two years ago.  First, there was the fact that he had a hard time believing that his wife would abandon both of them without a care, if not for her husband, then at least for her son.  And then, of course, he was just plain scared of dating. He had been with his wife since they were both in college and were going on their 10th anniversary when she decided to up and take off.  He had no clue what it meant to date and he didn’t want to bring a parade of women in front of his son. So Peeta chose not to date.

Meanwhile, though, there was this woman who was absolutely gorgeous. Peeta swallowed, his mouth having gone dry, and he panted slightly. Those crystal clear eyes seemed to flit towards him every time he looked away. At one point, he forgot his manners and simply stared at her. Just as he was sure he had made a perfect fool of himself, the lights dimmed and the Powerpoint presentation began. He scanned the chairs around him and was relieved to find David, Tristen and Carson sitting together in the row in front of their parents, the light from Tristen’s cellphone illuminating their features as they played with an app.  

Normally, Peeta paid attention to these presentations – there were slides about school grades, extra-curricular activities and upcoming events but he could not help but steal a look at that beautiful girl every few minutes, occasionally catching her in the act of studying him also.

When the presentation was over, the lovely woman had disappeared and something in Peeta’s chest plummeted.  He couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen her leave.  Filled with a vague disappointment, Peeta followed Finnick, who made sure he had a map and chatted amiably with him as they made their way to room 104, where David would start his second grade adventure.  Peeta physically shook himself – there was no reason to feel the way he was feeling.  He had no business worrying about a woman, no matter how attractive, when David took so much of his time and energy.

When they arrived at Ms. Everdeen’s door, there was a crowd of parents milling about the room, some signing in at the sign-in table, some studying the classroom library, which was substantial. Ms .Everdeen taught the homeroom reading block and science, according to the class schedule that was available next to the sign-in sheet.

“Hey, Dad!  There’s Ms. Everdeen!” David said excitedly as Tristen and Carson giggled.  Peeta waited patiently while the other parents cleared out to make his way to the area where he heard a raspy, throaty woman’s voice describing the expectations of the class. Peeta became almost light-headed when the woman at the front of the room turned out to be the elusive woman in the Cafetorium.  She spoke calmly and precisely, as if she had delivered this speech at least one hundred times.

“Grades will be awarded by assignment type and weighed according to a scale adopted by our grade level team…” her words trailed off when her eyes fell on Peeta.  For a moment, her mouth opened and closed without a sound before she appeared to remember that there were two other parents that she had been speaking who were hanging on her every word. “…eh, um, team.  Right and uh, homework…students have a…uh…standing homework assignment to read at least 20 days…I mean 20 minutes each night,” she ended breathlessly.

When the couple walked away, she turned towards Peeta, visibly gulping in a deep breath before offering him her hand.  “My name is Ms. Everdeen.  I will be your child’s second grade teacher.” She said, rushing each word out of her mouth.

“I’m David’s father, Peeta. I know he is dying to meet you, though I think he is swinging on the monkey bars at the moment.”  Peeta chuckled as he watched the boys play in the small playground adjacent to the classroom.

“Yeah, well, kids will be kids.  I like to take them out a couple of times a day, in addition to their PE time. Kids just need to move and our schedules don’t build in enough time for the kids to get really good physical activity.” Ms. Everdeen blushed furiously as she said this.

Peeta watched David, thinking about the way some days, he was on the go non - stop, not unlike Peeta when he was a baby, according to his father.  “David will climb the walls if he doesn’t get to burn some energy.” Peeta smiled, looking down at her, a feeling of euphoria inexplicably washing over him at the fact that she had not gotten away.

“David Mellark.  I remember seeing his name on the roster.  He’s handsome.  He looks just like you.” Peeta eyes widened in surprise and Ms. Everdeen’ smile faltered when she realized what she just said.  She looked down, shuffling a handful of unsharpened pencils in her fidgety hands.  “I mean, you...he is…” her sentence trailed off in confusion.

Peeta bought his head down so no one could hear him.  “You’re not half bad yourself, Ms. Everdeen.” he whispered smoothly, leaving Ms. Everdeen speechless as he straightened up to watch David play.

Turning back to Ms. Everdeen, he became serious.  He made it a point of letting David’s teachers know about his home environment so they could address any needs that might arise as his little boy continued to adjust to his mother’s absence.

“I...ah, David.  You see, he is a really great kid and all but he’s had a rough couple of years.” Peeta said carefully. ‘His mother...my wife...she walked out on us when he was six.”  he took a deep breath, shocked that even after so much time, it never failed to get him how easy she was able to leave. He glanced at Ms. Everdeen, who had gone pale at the confession.  “Just...if you see him struggling…”

Ms. Everdeen placed her hand on his arm. “I’m so sorry.” she said fiercely.

“It’s okay. I mean, for me anyway. I’m an adult.  But he’s just a little kid…” Peeta couldn’t finish.

“Of course. It’s losing a parent compounded with being abandoned. I understand where he’s coming from.” she said, her eyes clouding over with an internal sadness and Peeta suddenly wished he could know every secret buried in her heart. The overwhelming intensity of that feeling left him somewhat breathless.  “I’ll keep an eye on him, I promise.”  she said with obvious sincerity.

Peeta smiled, thinking to himself that someone like her would never get near him now, especially not with the emotional baggage of a wife who had abandoned her family.  He held out his hand to her. “Thank you for letting us take a tour of your classroom. I think the kids will really like it.”

Ms. Everdeen nodded at this.  “Your welcome.  If you need anything at all, you know what room I’m in.” she said, taking his hand in turn, a wave of warmth radiating from the point where they touched. He held on to her hand for a beat too long before dropping his hand in embarrassment.   Peeta began to move away to find David when Ms. Everdeen stopped him.

“Wait!  Take this.” she scribbled something on the back of the classroom schedule. “In case you want to get in touch with me...about David.  Or maybe you want to talk more about other ways to help him be successful.” she smiled sheepishly. “Or maybe if you just want to talk.”

Peeta looked down to see a mobile number written in neat, teacher’s handwriting.  He folded it carefully and placed it in his wallet, his heart doing backflips in his chest.  “I’ll be getting in touch with you.  Thank you,” he said before turning towards the boys who were waiting outside the classroom door.  

“I thought you said she was old?” Peeta tousled Carson’s hair, laughing at him.

“But she is!” he insisted, making David and Tristen giggle in response.

Casting one last glance over his shoulder at Ms. Everdeen, Peeta said, more to himself than to David,  “You know what, buddy? I think this is going to be an excellent school year.”

 


End file.
